Different components are used to create piling apparatuses. For example, it is known to use a bracket that is pushed under a foundation in combination with a pile (either a helically-driven pile or a resistance-style pile). However, current brackets suffer from a number of drawbacks. Because brackets must perform in the heavy loading conditions that exist in building foundations, brackets are currently fabricated by manually welding together steel components. This results in increased expense, lower throughput, and greater manufacturing variances as results differ from welder to welder. While variances can be eliminated by hiring highly-skilled welders, throughput will still depend upon the manufacturer's ability to find highly-skilled labor and the welds used in production being of a high quality. Furthermore, successful pile performance depends upon preventing the piles from buckling during installation.
The current invention overcomes these problems by offering a bracket that is a cast in a mold. By using a mold in its manufacture, the bracket disclosed herein dispenses with the need for highly skilled manual welding. Because welding is eliminated altogether, throughput can be increased dramatically and quality consistently maintained at a high level. The bracket disclosed herein also offers greater control over the eccentric force encountered while the piles are being driven into the ground. By controlling eccentric force, the bracket that is the subject of the instant application prevents buckling during installation.
Piling apparatuses currently in the market suffer from additional problems. In applications involving helically-driven piles, the joints represent areas of weakness. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,314,335, the disclosure of which incorporated herein by reference, a cylindrical pile has been cold formed to provide a squared end that functions as a female connector adapted for mating engagement with a lower squared male end. See Col. 4, 11. 34-36. At the joint between the female squared end and the male squared end, holes are provided for bolts. See, e.g., FIG. 9. In U.S. Pat. No. 7,314,335, two power sources and a removable drive member extending through the entire length of the piles are used. One of the power sources is connected to the drive member whereby torque is transmitted to the anchor, driving it into the ground; the second power source is mounted onto the pile and causes the pile section to rotate independently and separately from the drive member. See Col. 5, line 59 to Col. 6, line 10. However, when soil conditions require increased torque in order to drive the anchor into the ground, the pile buckles at the joint or the male and female ends move relative to each other with the bolt cutting through the wall of one of the piles. Consequently, there is a need for greater strength at the joints.
The ends of the piling shown herein are provided with a thickness that is greater than the thickness of the pipe. The greater thickness at the ends provides strength. In the presently preferred embodiment, this is accomplished by welding end fittings to the ends of the pipe (though other means of attachment are possible). These end fittings provide a cost-effective solution to the problem of weakness at the joints. First, the end fittings are cast in a sand mold. The cast design enables many end fittings to be made, thereby reducing the cost per end fitting. Second, in the case of the preferred embodiment, welding the end fitting onto a pile requires minimal skill and can be fully automated; thus, the piles disclosed herein can be made in a cost-effective manner. Third, the cast steel end fitting provides considerable strength that enables the pile to withstand the increased stress encountered when the pile is being driven into the ground. Finally, two power sources and an extensive drive member are not necessary to install the pile into the ground.
Accordingly, the present invention is intended to overcome these and other disadvantages inherent in prior systems. Naturally, the foregoing does not purport to be an exhaustive illustration of the advantages of the current piling apparatus. The detailed description will reveal other advantages of the current piling apparatus.